Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team [BARGAIN PRICE] (Hardcover)

by Peter Golenbock (Author) "In the summer of 1880, Jim Mutrie, the founding father of major league baseball in New York City, rode his bicycle on dirt roads, from..." (more)
Key Phrases: young pitching staff, long home run, rookie camp, New York, World Series, Gary Carter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
As he did in Bums, his oral history of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Golenbock presents a chorus of voices recounting the successes and notorious failures of one of the most colorful teams in baseball history. Golenbock begins with the Giants and the Dodgers and what impact their hijacking had on the city. Baseball finally came to its senses, and the New York Metropolitans came into existence for the 1962 season. One hundred and twenty losses later, the season ended in Chicago with a triple play, a fitting tribute to their still-standing record of futility. The strange thing about the early Mets was that the more they lost, the more the fans loved them. Golenbock combines his own well-researched commentary with the recollections of eyewitnesses. All the personalities are here: Casey Stengel and Marvelous Marv Throneberry, fondly recalled by utility man "Hot" Rod Kanehl, and their first all-star, Ron Hunt. Outfielder Ron Swoboda and pitcher Jerry Koosman reminisce about the Miracle Mets of 1969, while Daryl Strawberry and Keith Hernandez wax nostalgic about the Mets' next World Series win, 17 years later, recalling every crucial play with nail-biting suspense. Strawberry talks candidly about his drug use and his conflicts with teammates and managers, and the author addresses the general dissipation of so many players in the 1980s. Golenbock includes lively testimony not only from ex-players, but sports writers like Robert Lipsyte, the late poet Joel Oppenheimer, front office personnel and regular fans. This is a delightful and painstakingly detailed trip down memory lane that Mets fans will cherish.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Golenbock, who has made a cottage industry of oral histories of legendary teams, ably captures the Mets's colorful history in this entertaining volume. He interviews journalists, coaches, former players, and stars in short thematic chapters. The miracle world championship year of 1969, when the Mets beat all the odds, is especially delightful.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312274521
• ASIN: B0000W6SUY
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,824,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Here to paint the word picture for you..., April 20, 2002

By	Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team (Hardcover)

Twenty years ago this week, I went to my first-ever baseball game, at Shea Stadium. I broke away from the Yankee-rooting faith of my dad, and have been a Mets fan for twenty years. Buying this book was a no-brainer. While I don't regret the purchase, I do wish I'd had a chance to edit this book before it was bound and sold to others!

Peter Golenbock has written oral history before, most notably about the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Casey Stengel Yankees. This is good because it enables Golenbock to mail in the first hundred pages of this new book, a lengthy recap of those two earlier ones. The history of New York City baseball is traced slowly, from 1880 through 1960, as we revisit scenes from "Bums" and reread profiles on Stengel and first Mets General Manager George Weiss from "Dynasty".

Golenbock's strength in those earlier books wasn't so much his descriptions of individual games as it was the ability to draw detailed memories and strong quotes from players and fans. In "Amazin'", we read lengthy passages from a lot of memorable names in Mets history: the first three players interviewed are Rod Kanehl, Ron Hunt, and Ron Swoboda (and later on, we meet Ron Gardenhire. A pattern?). Al Leiter is the only post-1990 Met interviewed, and 66 of the book's final 67 passages are from him. Al's a terrific storyteller and I'd love to read his biography one day.

Other interviews are more suspect. That's because Golenbock simply reprints pages from the earlier autobiographies of Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Lenny Dykstra. Strawberry's ghost-writer employed particularly dramatic prose, so Darryl's quotes stick out dramatically from all the other conversational recollections.

Many minor facts in this book are flatly incorrect, from the misnaming of Tom Seaver to the descriptions of Game 6 of the 1999 playoff series against the Braves. Golenbock describes the game one way, and then is contradicted by Leiter. This happens frequently throughout the book. Also odd is that Bob Murphy, the first voice ever heard broadcasting a Mets game on radio, and now in his 41st year of service, is mentioned exactly twice in the book. Also mentioned exactly twice is Michael Kay, a Yankee broadcaster for 11 years and never an employee of the Mets. Where's the Murph? Also omitted is the furore over the 1992 trade of David Cone, although this is perhaps the only omission of a major turning point in Met fortunes throughout the book's 625-page length.

You can learn a lot about Mets history from "Amazin'", particularly from the chapter on Bill Shea, and from the chapters on the recent Bobby Valentine years, the first such chapters written about the current team. On these levels, "Amazin'" is groundbreaking. On other levels, it seems rushed: the book ends abruptly with Leiter discussing the final out of the 2000 World Series, and there's no author afterword or conclusion.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great history of the early days, but....., June 4, 2002

By	Francis P. Englert "fpe" (ROSLINDALE, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team (Hardcover)

The first half of this book, up to the resurgence of the Mets in the mid to late 80s, is excellant. Many observations from a lot of players give a good overall view of the terrible 60s, leading up to great victory in '69, an almost victory in '73, and the decline after that. However, the focus on the late 80s is much too reliant upon a few memior/biographies, and less on the oral interviews of the earlier chapters. The oral interview comes back for the Mets' playoff teams of the 1999/2000. But with no interview subject except Al Leiter, these chapters lack the multiple perspectives of the earlier pages. And it is clear that this book was rushed into the bookstores for the 2002 baseball season. It has to be the worst edited book I've read in a long time, with many small factual errors.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mets Fans Deserve Better, May 28, 2002

By	Greg Prince (Baldwin, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team (Hardcover)

Three players have spanned the entire history of the New York Mets -- Ed Kranepool (1962-1979), Mookie Wilson (1980-1989) and John Franco (1990-present). No season has taken place without one of them on the roster for at least part of the year. And nowhere in this supposed oral history do their thoughts appear.

Three of the most popular, longest serving, most identifiable players in team history. The three guys who can be said to have seen it all. Peter Golenbock doesn't bother with them.

That should tell you what a slipshod affair "Amazin'" is.

That's what's not in there. What is in there is stuff like this: The implication that the Mets' troubles with the Braves of the late 1990s dates back to Claudell Washington leaving New York to sign with Atlanta in 1980. Rambling reminiscences from Ron Gardenhire on what it was like in Tidewater in 1983. And more errors than John Valentin playing first base.

The work of Peter Golenbock and his editors gets half a star for dredging up bizarrely fascinating tidbits like Craig Swan's objection to serving as birddog for Joel Youngblood while the two were hunting. Half a star goes to the cover design and the subtitle of the book, which is enough to [attract] any true Mets fan. And one star goes to the Mets' actual history which is too good to be trampled by the likes of lazy, inaccurate fatcat authors who don't pay their subject matter a whit of the respect or attention it deserves.

Peter Golenbock is the worst thing to happen to Mets history since Bobby Bonilla. May neither ever get another assignment in baseball.